Latest Commitment of Traders positions (FX) as at May 1st 2018

CFTC commitment of traders report was released on Friday (4th May) and cover positions up to Tuesday (1st May). COT report is not a complete presenter of entire market positions since the future market is relatively smaller compared to Spot FX market. Nevertheless, it presents crucial picture on how key participants are looking at future moves.

Key highlights:

Market participants are net long in all currencies against the dollar except the Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, Japanese yen, and the Swiss franc.

Long positions decreased:

• The long positions in the Mexican Peso declined for a third consecutive week by 2,742 contracts last week to +86K contracts.
• The long positions in the British pound sterling declined for the second straight week and by 10,993 contracts +26.4K contracts.
• The long positions in the euro declined for a second consecutive week and by 10,026 contracts to +120.6K contracts.
• The long positions in the New Zealand dollar declined for a second consecutive week and by 7,861 contracts to +16.6K contracts.

Short position increased:

• The short position in the Canadian dollar rose last week and by 2,391 contracts to -27.5K contracts.
• The short positions in the Swiss Franc rose last week and by 9,231 contracts to -19.5K contracts.
• The short positions in the Australian dollar rose last week and by 2,276 contracts that pushed the net position to -5.7K contracts.

Position shifted from long to short:

• The short positions in the Japanese yen rose in such a fashion that the net position shifted from long to short. Net shorts rose by 1,988 contracts which pushed the net position to -1.4K contracts.